Glorious Goodwood is one fixture that pretty much everyone can agree about. Many of the 1,503 meetings scheduled for 2010, though, are another matter. Even the BHA suggested that the programme might be "unsustainable" when it was published last week, given the possible effects of the recession on ownership levels and the horse population.

This does not mean that the sport may simply grind to a halt in the middle of next year but an industry that relies heavily on betting income via the Levy is always aware that one downward turn can lead directly to another.

Whether it maintained the current programme or cut back sharply on the bread-and-butter stuff that keeps the betting shops ticking over, the BHA was going to be taking a punt.

If you spend the money you have on a reduced programme, punters may bet a little bit more on what is put in front of them, to reflect the relative increase in quality. On the other hand, they may get bored and stick the difference in one-armed bandits instead, which means a further drop in the Levy. The potential for a vicious spiral is clear.

But if you spread less prize money across the same number of fixtures, it may drive owners away. If the horse population cannot support 1,503 fixtures, field sizes will drop, betting turnover and profits will drop too — and so will the Levy. And, though the latest figures show a relatively manageable drop of two per cent in horse numbers, it is anyone's guess how many of the yearlings arriving at the sales this autumn will find a buyer.

Everyone knows that the recession is going to hurt racing. All the BHA can do is try to ensure that the pain is no greater or more persistent than necessary. It is a difficult, complex process, a balancing act that involves no end of marginal judgment calls and at times nothing more than educated guesswork.

On that basis it is natural for any ruling body to take a conservative approach and in deciding to maintain the status quo, in 2010 at least, the BHA is no different. It is taking a chance, among other things, that owners as a whole are not as sensitive to prize-money levels as their representatives from the Racehorse Owners Association always feel obliged to suggest.

It seems a reasonable chance to take. The financial return to racehorse owners in Britain has always been lower than in most other major racing countries but people are still keen to race horses here anyway, which suggests that they are not measuring the costs and benefits in hard cash alone.

Instead they appreciate the sense of history that is attached to racing in the country where the thoroughbred breed was created. They love the variety of the tracks and, for that matter, of codes; only Ireland can compare in regard to the strength of both National Hunt and Flat racing, and they do not race every day.

They enjoy the passion and buzz of the big days and the friendliness and intimacy of midweek afternoons at smaller tracks like Fontwell and Pontefract.

It is these rewards, the ones that do not appear on a balance sheet, that should ensure there is enough slack in the system to keep the sport going. As with everything else in life, though, there are no guarantees.